5 Times Google Maps Saved Lives

March 26, 2018, 10:46 am688 Views

#1 A Kidnap Victim Was SavedThis is one of the 5 times Google Maps saved lives and Sander Cokelare is lucky that it did. Sander Cokelare was at work one day at SMET UK LTD. Out of the blue, a bitter ex-employee of the company named John Charles showed up at the office and kidnapped Sander. According to John, his boss owed him money so he wanted to use Sander’s credentials so that he could schedule a one-on-one meeting with his former boss. When John kidnapped Sander, he managed to hide his phone from him. He waited until John left the room and he used Google Maps to send his location to his boss. When his boss got the information, they went to the location and saved Sander. John was arrested for kidnapping immediately after.

#2 Man Finds His Way Home After 23 Years

When a man named Saroo was 5 years old, he accidentally got on board a runaway train in India. He was separated from his family and had no idea how to find his way home. For 23 years he searched for his family but because he was so young when he was separated from them, he couldn’t remember where his family lived and even their last name. The only thing that he did remember about his home was that his hometown was closed off by two bridges. He used Google Maps and Google Earth and he was able to find the town. Once there, it didn’t take long before he found his family. According to Saroo, Google Maps and Google Earth saved his life because he wasn’t really living while he was apart from his family.

#3 Saved From a Desert IslandThree men began having boat trouble and they managed to get to the shore of a deserted island. None of the men were survivalists and they had no experience in nature. After a day or so, the men decided to gather as many leaves and branches as they could so that they could spell out the word “Help”. It wasn’t long before the men and their cry for help was spotted on Google Earth. Not long after, a US Navy plane flew above the island and saw the men’s distress signal. It wasn’t long before the men were rescued and reunited with their friends and family members. Since their time on the island, the men say that they are giving up boating. Instead, they say that they have been binge watching episodes of Gilligan’s Island.

#4 Google Maps Finds Missing Man

A man named David Lee Niles was leaving Jake’s Bar in Byron Township, Michigan on October 11, 2006. For years, his family searched for him in hopes that he was alive somewhere. At the time of his disappearance, he was 67 years old. Finally, in 2011, his family hesitantly lost hope and they published an obituary for him even though they prayed every day that he was alive. In November 2017, the car was found and David’s body was inside. It was found when someone spotted a vehicle submerged in a pond on Google Maps. When the uncovered the car, they found the skeletal remains of David inside. Google Maps may not have been able to save David’s life, however, it did save his family’s. Finally having answers to their questions about their loved one finally allowed them to move on. One of his family members stated that they just weren’t living not knowing where David really was.

#5 Missing Teen Walks Out of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

A 15 years old boy named Austin Bohanan from Blount County, Tennessee went hiking on an off-trail hike in the remote southwest corner of the area. He was alone and it didn’t take long before he lost his way. He realized quickly that he had no phone signal in the mountains so he turned his phone off. For 11 day, he tried to find his way home. The day after he left, his stepfather reported him missing. The Rangers didn’t want to send out too many searchers because too many people could destroy tracks left by Austin. On the 11th day, he realized that even though he didn’t have a phone signal, he could probably get a GPS signal. He turned his phone on and Google Maps led him out of a backcountry area known as Tabcat Creek. When he was found, he was taken to a nearby hospital in Maryville, Tennessee where he was treated for exhaustion and dehydration. He said that if it weren’t for his GPS signal and Google Maps that he would never have made it out of the woods alive.

Trending Now

I Dream Of Jeannie I Dream Of Jeannie ran from 1965 to 1970, and the show received rave reviews. The series focused on Captain Tony Nelson, a NASA astronaut, and his wife, who was a Jeannie in a bottle. You may have watched the show, but don’t really know what happened behind the scenes. Here, […] More

Nia and Robert Tolbert Nia and Robert live in Waldorf, Maryland, and they met in 2007 through mutual friends. They both say that the day they met, it was love at first sight. They started dating shortly after meeting, and things just got better from there. They had been dating for a few years, and […] More

Buying An Old House When you buy an old house, you have no way of knowing what lies beneath the floors of the walls of your new home. Unless you have the original blueprints, you won’t know if there are hidden rooms or passageways that have been sealed up for years. One man discovered something […] More

August 12, 2019, 12:16 pm

Recent Posts

If you love photography, then you have come across some photos taken before things went really wrong. Some of the pictures are hilarious, while others are cringe-worthy. But that’s the beauty of photography. Watch Out For The Cargo The cargo ship almost toppled over. Believe it or not, the boat didn’t flip over, and nobody […] More

Football Each football player has its own purpose. The role of a linebacker is protection. It is the linebacker’s job to defend the goal area on the field. They are also responsible for blocking plays by the opposing team. Before each play, the linebackers stand behind the line of scrimmage in front of the safeties. […] More

Arlene Nickless Arlene Nickless’s husband Tim died suddenly, leaving her family devastated. She was married to Tim for 18 years. He contracted an illness when he used contaminated medical supplies. He fought the disease for seven years, before passing away in January 2008. Arlene was trying her best to raise her three kids alone, which […] More

Kim and Travis Guiley Kim and Travis are a happily married couple from Santa Cruz, California. At the age of 28, Kim was working as a doula. It was her job to offer non-medical support to families before, during, and after pregnancy. Three years after Kim and Travis got married, Kim got pregnant with their […] More

Common Phrases There are plenty of common phrases today that most people don’t know where they came from. To people in other places, who speak other languages, some of these phrases can sound absurd. If you have ever wondered where these phrases came from, you are about to find out. Here are the unusual origins […] More

VapoRub When many people get sick, the first thing they do is head to the medicine cabinet to get some Vicks VapoRub. When you rub VapoRub on your chest, it can relieve your nasal and chest congestion. What you may not know is that VapoRub has many other purposes. Here are 20 interesting alternative uses […] More